The following is a brief description of known prior art teachings which may be considered material to the examination of this application.
German patent DE-3611925-A1 teaches a waisted bottle having two chambers separated by an X-shaped waist opening. An X-shaped stopper attached to the bottle closure cap by a connecting rod is used to seal the components of the two chambers from one another. The connecting rod may be depressed by screwing the cap downward, unseating the stopper and allowing the components of the two chambers to intermix.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,651,990 teaches a plastic "squeeze bottle" having upper and lower compartments connected by a restricted waist passageway. The restricted waist passageway may be closed by a tubular stem extending through said passageway and connected to an internally threaded cap that is attachable to the threaded bottle neck.
When the cap is removed from the bottle neck, the attached tubular stem is removed from the bottle and inverted. A second internally threaded recess of the cap may be screwed onto the bottle neck when the cap and attached tubular stem are inverted. The components are commingled and dispensed by squeezing the contents of the bottle through the tubular stem.
When in the closed position, an enlargement in the tubular stem surrounded by an O-ring forms a fluid-tight seal with the interior surface of the passageway. The component in the lower chamber is sealed in the bottle by a check valve in the internal passageway of the tubular stem and a closure inserted over the second cap recess. The component in the upper chamber is sealed in the bottle by a plug inserted into an opening of the cap and the closure inserted over the second cap recess.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,817,104 teaches a dual-chambered container in which the lower chamber is designed to contain a tooth-cleaning fluid and the upper chamber has an opening for receiving a toothbrush. The opening between the chambers is sealed by a conical tip of the toothbrush which forms a valve-type closure that seats firmly in the opening. The container also includes a removable cap that has air vents which permit the vented toothbrush to dry.
After the closure on the container is removed sufficiently and the toothbrush displaced slightly (to defeat the valve-type closure), the container device is tilted and a small quantity of a liquid contained in the lower chamber is transferred to the upper chamber for application to the toothbrush. When the brush is removed and the device returned to its upright position, the liquid flows back to the lower chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,347,420 teaches a container having a restricted waist dividing the interior of the container into upper and lower chambers. A vertical sidewall divides the lower chamber into two compartments for storing separate components until the components are transferred to the upper chamber for mixing. The upper and lower chambers are connected by means of a small opening. A transfer spout and tube are inserted in the opening between the two chambers so that when the container is in an upright position, the flexible walls of the lower chamber may be squeezed inwardly to reduce the volume of the lower chamber, creating pressure therein and forcing liquid from the lower chamber, up through the tube and transfer spout, into the upper chamber. The liquid transferred to the upper chamber may be poured through an exterior opening in the upper chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,870,147 is directed to a container for the storage of at least two components plus a solvent, all of which are maintained in separate chambers within the container. A capsule, having separate chambers for the components, extends into the container which is partially filled with a solvent. The capsule includes a sliding sleeve member which, when pressed, extends and pushes the separating bottoms out of their respective chambers and into the container to allow mixing of the substances with the solvent within the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,599,838, U.S. Pat. No. 3,458,076, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,347,410 relate to dual-chambered storage and mixing containers in which one chamber of the container is contained within a larger chamber. Both the inner and outer containers are closed by means of a single closure. In the '410 patent, the contents of the separated compartments are combined by pressing a bellows-type cap with a sharpened rod attached. This rod punctures or otherwise defeats an integral seal which separates the two chambers, thus allowing the contents of the chambers to intermix. In the '076 patent and the '838 patent, the contents of the separate compartments are combined by forcing the container closure axially downward relative to the outer compartment to force the inner compartment completely into the outer compartment, thus allowing the ingredients of the compartments to intermix.
FIG. 6 illustrates a dual-chambered container 10 with a central constriction 12 between upper and lower chambers. The upper chamber 16 includes an exterior opening 22 with an elongated neck 20, through which a stem applicator 52 and fill-tube 48 assembly is inserted to seal the passageway 18 connecting upper and lower chambers with an attached plug seal 46. The stem applicator and fill tube assembly is attached to a closure means 30, which, when removed, displaces the plug seal 46 from the passageway 18 allowing contents of upper and lower chambers to commingle. The assignee of the present invention made a prototype of a container of this type and offered it for sale to a customer more than one year before the present application was filed.
Applicants submit herewith copies of the foregoing references, including the subject matter of FIG. 6, in respect of which there may be a duty to disclose in accordance with 37 CFR .sctn.1.56. Also enclosed is PTO Form 1449 which lists these references.
The foregoing is intended to constitute an Information Disclosure Statement in accordance with 37 CFR .sctn.1.97. Although these references and related information may be "material", citation thereof is not intended to constitute an admission that any patent, publication or other information referred to is "prior art" for this invention unless specifically designated as such. This Information Disclosure Statement shall not be construed to mean that no other material information, as defined in 37 CFR .sctn.1.56(a), exists.